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A day for foraging

Today we walked with the dog along the edge of a field. The ground is very dry due to a long sunny spell without rain. As usual, glinting pieces of broken pottery caught my eye and I had to pick them up to add to my collection. I also collected some wild garlic and few-flower leeks to make some garlic oil. Be very careful if you’re going to do this, as there are a couple of very similar plants including lily of the valley which can be fatal if ingested. I would recommend watching some YouTube videos on plant identification prior to collecting anything to eat.

I used half of the bunch to make the oil and put the other half in a vase on my desk. I painted the garlic flowers alongside some broken pottery. I often pair wild flowers and weeds with broken pottery as a subject. There is a relationship between their stories; unwanted, superfluous or past their use, but there is a delicate beauty in existence if we take the time to look closely.

Wild garlic can be harvested where it grows in abundance, but please learn to identify it safely.Wild garlic is considered invasive is some settings. I think it is a beautiful plant. Here, I have done a watercolour painting of some garlic flowers alongside some broken pottery I found in the field. Garlic flowers, few-flower leeks and broken pottery sit alongside some beautiful kale which has gone to seed. Nature has a way of creating stunning colour schemes all in one plant.